Survey finds Americans likely to work while sick

When you wake up with a stuffy head, and a dripping nose, the last thing you want to do is put on your power suit and head into the office. But a recent survey done by Kraft Foods’ Halls found that many Americans push past their symptoms and drag themselves into work.

Out of the 600 adults polled by Halls’ national telephone survey, 44% said they would consider going to work with cold or flu symptoms, while 32% said they would go to work regardless of how sick they get, reported Chain Drug Review.

Halls did not find the results of their survey surprising due to the current economy. Some who took the survey expressed worry in their finances and paychecks. The survey showed 19% felt pressured by their boss to work while sick, 31% wouldn’t get paid for a sick day, and 11% would most likely fall behind on their bills if they were to stay home in bed, according to Chain Drug Review, Dec. 16.

Even more startling, 10% of people felt that they could lose their job for calling in sick, or get denied for a raise or promotion.

While sitting in bed eating soup sounds heavenly compared to being sick in your cubicle, Halls ultimately found that most Americans want to fight through their colds in the workplace to avoid any economic risks, reported Chain Drug Review.

Halls also asked its surveyors how likely they’d be to take a sick day this flu season compared to last. Halls found that 46% of people are not likely to take a sick day during the cold and flu season October 2010-March 2011) while 49% are likely to take between one and five sick days this flu season.

How do you handle a sickness? Do you go into work and risk getting others infected or do you stay home and take the repercussions? Let us know in our comment section.

Comments

Most nurses I work with come to work sick because of the call in policies of the facility. Many times when someone calls in they meet resistance from their Directors, Managers or the House Supervisor. In order to call in at the two facilities that I work in I must make “3” calls. One to the unit, one to the house supervisor and one to the Director. Then if you happen to have a season where you are sick several times, then you get counselled
Therefore nurses come to work sick and spread it to everyone else. Nurses are to have compassion for our patients, but there is none for us in this world of big business healthcare.